Jennifer P. http://jta.org/user/profile/43069 en-us marcus@infolink.com.br Copyright 2009 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 It would be nice if there were something Jewish that didn't involve giving money. My synagogue has come under the rule of the penny-pinchers and no one is allowed to do anything anymore if they aren't current on their dues, which is sick. The Federation wants money. Everybody wants money! I'm just about fed up. With our economy in its current state, there are a lot of average 30-something Jews who have no hope of being loaded like the older folks at my synagogue all seem to be. If we make them feel like all they are good for is money, they'll drift away and never come back. I know because I'm feeling that way. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Alice Walker's life formed her worldview, and unfortunately it's an unchanging, overly simple one. In her worldview there is the oppressed and the oppressor, the good guy and the bad guy. The real world is rarely so cut and dried. Sadly, she seems to only let her worldview be affirmed by all her travels and experiences, rather than leaving herself open to learn something that might actually change her view of the world. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 The YMCA doesn't open on Sunday. Can't we at least be as Sabbath observant as the Christians, even if they do observe it on the wrong day? 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Is the tactic to kidnap the entire Israeli army, one soldier at a time, until Israel is defenseless? Seriously, why aren't these soldiers taught some kidnap-resistance self-defense? The buddy system, maybe? Not that it's their fault, but I dont' want anyone else to be in Gilad's shoes since Israel can't get him home for some reason. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 "Aita has said he is no longer involved in the organization." You can drop out of the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade?! 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 So, the rabbis are rejecting science now like the medieval Catholic Church? Swine flu spreads because it's a GERM. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Wow. That is very generous. I hope his parents are making sure he acts in his own best interest. To hear of a child giving away this much money (Jewishly he's a man, yes, but in American culture he's a child stlil) brings up a lot of questions. Perhaps he comes from a wealthy family. But there's something in the Talmud about not impoverishing yourself by giving too much charity, isn't there? I hope this wasn't his nest egg for college and beginning his adult life. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 The people who have been disrupting the town hall meetings have gotten just what they wanted. They don't want debate, or to be listened to. They want to stop discourse. Childers has found something better to do than to be yelled at by people who only want to disrupt. This wasn't really offensive to me as a Jew. It was borderline. I think it reflects the maker's view of Jews as "Other," which is an unfortunate and potentially dangerous view, but people who want to end discourse are rarely open-minded. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 I once heard Professor James E. Bowley of Millsaps College make a well-reasoned argument that there is no such thing as "Judeo-Christian" and I wholeheartedly agree. It's a political term which is meant to exclude non-Christians, not to include Jews. If you really think about it and study it, there is really no such thing as common Jewish and Christian principles. We agree on the 10 commandments, sure, but Christianity does away with Judaism. It doesn't include it and then build upon it, so there's really no common ground to speak of, religiously. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 What kind of religious community makes death threats?! If the child was in danger or seemed to be in danger, and the community wasn't doing anything about it, they should be glad someone is watching out for the boy. If there's nothing to hide then why are they trying so hard to hide everything? Never ceases to amaze me when the ultra-religious make threats. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Find something more serious and substantial for the poor intern to do, or is this intern hazing? 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Rabbi Lamm might as well plan Kaddish for Coke and Pepsi while he's at it, because those are about as likely to die as Conservative and Reform Judaism. And if they were to "die", where does he think those Jews would go? Certainly not to Orthodoxy. So he would rather have those Jews out there with no movement and no community? Lovely! 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 I can't believe they considered closing Cincinnati. That's where the school was founded and if I decide on Reform, where I intend to go to school. I find it incredibly frustrating already that if I with Conservative I have to go to LA or NY. There is a whole country in the middle people!!!! 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 I wish I could see some pictures! 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Tamar, no birth control usage? I don't know a single Jew in the Conservative Movement who wants birth control to be discouraged. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 I've been a (Reform) Jew for 5 years as of Feb 6 and I know what Levirate marriage is... I'm just ashamed that a Jew would go on national television after being in a movie about Lubavitcher people, about Levirate marriage, and show that not only did she know nothing about her religion before all that, but even AFTER that she doesn't seem to have learned anything. Ignorance is never funny, Susie, especially ignorance about yourself. I wish Joy Behar would change her name back to her Catholic last name so people would stop thinking she's a Jew... she likes to give that impression until it suits her to point out that "Ta da! She's Catholic!" But to her credit she at least seems to know more about Judaism than Susie. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 I would like to respond to Dr. Zidonov who left a comment. I did not vote for Barack Obama and have thought that everyone's acting like the Messiah has come was ridiculous. But then a close friend of mine who teaches in a predominantly black, lower income high school made me listen to 2 songs that some of her kids had been inspired to write, perform, and record (with limited logistical help by adults) by the election of Obama. Those songs made me cry because their message finally made me get it. Slavery, Jim Crow, racism, and poverty are intimately real for black people, no matter to what extent they have experienced them. I have always believed that in today's world you can do anything no matter your skin color, but black people didn't know that. They didn't know it the way you know something in your soul and now they do, because the United States elected a black man to lead us. I think that for the first time many black people feel accepted by American society now. If Obama's election does nothing besides help blacks realize they are valuable and accepted, then it was worth it. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 They should condemn Hamas for their grave violations of Palestinian human rights, not to mention Israeli rights. 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00